


the lava below

by Catheeso



Series: Dream SMP [1]
Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Betrayal, Dave | Technoblade and Wilbur Soot and TommyInnit are Siblings, Depression, Dream POV, Gen, Insanity, Overuse of italics, Suicide Attempt, Three Lives System, Tommy POV, added a second chapter, in this au i coded it so dream isnt a bitch, its an AU, not villain dream, so now its also, tw: suicide attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:14:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28166115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catheeso/pseuds/Catheeso
Summary: The Nether is a dangerous place. Twice, Tommy finds himself just above lava, although for different reasons. Both times, Dream is there.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF)
Series: Dream SMP [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2089689
Comments: 16
Kudos: 440





	1. over the edge

**Author's Note:**

> This is an AU I made because I wanted good guy Dream. Tommy might be a little OOC. Dream is definitely OOC.

Tommy could feel the numbness creeping in, a feeling that he hadn’t felt since Pogtopia when all seemed lost. He watched as Dream, Sapnap, and Ghostbur walk into the Nether portal to go look at the Christmas tree in L’Manberg just to taunt him. Just to make fun of him.

If this had been only a week earlier, he would’ve shouted and cussed them out, making fun of them relentlessly because he was mad. Except, right now, he isn’t mad. He isn’t mad at all.

All emotions he could be feeling were muffled. Like wool. He had felt like this back in Pogtopia only once when he was forced to accept the fact that Wilbur had lost his marbles and really was planning to blow up all their friends and family. When Dream had given Wilbur the TNT.

(He had seen the hesitation in Dream’s movements, had heard to reluctance in his voice, but willfully chose to ignore it. Now, he knows that Dream regretted it and never wanted L’Manberg to blow up like that, for Wilbur to die like that. But Tommy still blamed him somewhat, even more so now.)

The air is painfully silent as the others disappeared into the portal, only the distant grunting of piglins and the bubbling of lava heard. The lava that was currently under him. 

He looked around at the vast sea of orange and red, feeling the heat of it. 

He had died by lava before, a lot of people had. That was before the three lives limit was implemented, though. He remembered how much it hurt but also how fast it was, especially without armor on.

His throat tightened as he walked closer to the edge. 

Did it matter? Really, did it? Who would care if he stepped off right now? Certainly not Tubbo, he had exiled him. Ranboo, Fundy, Big Q, all of them hadn’t visited him once since he had been exiled. Ghostbur had Technoblade and Phil. 

He lazily wiped his eyes. He won’t cry, he _won’t_. He was better than crying. He wasn’t going to stand here and whine about how things aren’t going his way. He was better than that.

Was he?

The more Tommy thought about it, the more inviting it seemed. Wilbur seemed so happy as a ghost, much happier than when he was alive. He wasn’t insane anymore.

Was this what going insane felt like? The numb desire to step off into your inevitable demise? The cold desire to end it all? The broken hollowness in your chest that made nothing seem worth it? The urge to just curl up and never wake up again? 

Was this what Wilbur felt like?

_Let’s be the bad guys, Tommy._

He doesn’t wanna be the bad guy. He just wants it to be over.

Tommy took a deep breath. He just wants it to be over. He ignored the tell-tale warble of someone emerging from a Nether portal and took a step off the stone beneath him. He just wants it to be over.

Just as the ground disappeared beneath his feet, his heart lurched. What was he doing? 

Before he could fully realize what had just happened, a hand reached out and snagged his wrist, leaving him dangling. He looked up as the mystery person grunted, readjusting their grip on his wrist.

He looked up and saw the iconic smiley face mask.

“Tommy!” Dream shouted. He was pressed flat across the floor, one hand holding onto Tommy’s wrist and another holding onto the edge of the platform, making sure he doesn’t fall off with Tommy. “Tommy, grab my hand!” 

The boy blinked in astonishment. Had Dream really saved him? Dream, who was the reason he was exiled in the first place. Dream, who wanted him dead. Dream, who was his worst enemy.

(Dream, who laughed with him as they built the holy land. Dream, who invited him to the world. Dream, who used to be his friend.)

“Tommy!”

Tommy looked down at the lava below him as panic seized his chest. Quickly, he reached up and grabbed the hand holding his wrist. Dream, slowly, pulled him up and over the ledge.

When Tommy settled on the stone again, Dream leaned back, panting. 

“Dream?” he asked quietly.

The admin simply laid on the floor, not moving.

“Dream?” he tried again.

Dream sat up and stared at him for a second. He stared back. Dream shot forward and wrapped Tommy in a hug.

“Gods, Tommy,” he said, his voice breaking slightly. “Don’t- don’t do that. Please. It’s not your time to die.”

“It’s never my time,” Tommy whispered back, burying his face in Dream’s shoulder. 

* * *

Well, this was eerily familiar. 

Tommy watched as Dream raised his shield only to make a mistake and try to step back. The man yelped as he fell, only barely managing to hang on to the platform by the tips of his fingers, his shield and axe falling into the lava below. Techno would probably call this poetic. Tommy found it ironic.

“It’s over, Dream,” Sapnap hissed, the netherite sword clutched in his hand. Everyone gathered on the bridge was strangely unharmed despite Dream not only having all his armor on but also having his weapons.

They had surprised Dream and attacked him while he was gathering quartz - Tommy didn’t know why - chasing after him. Dream hadn’t fought back, instead choosing to run.

Part of Tommy wanted to think that Dream knew he was cornered and it would just be pathetic to try and fight back. The large majority of him knew, though, that the admin just refused to fight his friends like this even though they were actively trying to kill him. 

Tommy stepped forward and stood over Dream as the latter clung on, breathing fast with obvious fear. Tommy had all the power right now. Just a couple of kicks to the other’s hands and Dream would be no more. He would be an awful memory.

But something made him falter. Was Dream an awful memory? Tommy could argue that he was thanks to the exile, but thinking back, the exile wasn’t even that bad.

It lasted a month and a half before Dream and Tubbo (and Quackity, who started El Rapids) let him back. Dream had just shown up one day with a book and said he could come back. And before that, Dream had been the one keeping him company. 

Well, not really. Dream came by at least once a week and often he just climbed a hill nearby and watched the sun set or rise, lost in his thoughts. The few times Tommy did talk to him, though, were the highlights of his exile.

Plus...

It’s not your time to die, that's what Dream had told him after he saved him. And now, Dream was in almost the same exact position as Tommy was. He would die the same way Tommy tried to. 

Was it right? Were they right to try and kill him? Was it right to step on Dream’s hands as he looked pleadingly up at Tommy, the crack in his mask allowing Tommy to see the tears gathering in his eyes? 

Deep down, Tommy knew it wasn’t right. Deep down, Tommy knew he didn’t want to do this. 

“Do it, Tommy,” Big Q - no, Quackity - said, his voice high with cruel excitement. “Kill him.”

Dream made a strangled noise that made Tommy’s heart hurt.

Tommy knelt down and put his hands over Dream’s wrists like he was about to throw him over. Was he going to?

“Tommy?” Dream asked softly. “Tommy, _please_.”

“I’m sorry,” Tommy said. He tightened his grip around Dream’s wrists and...

...pulled him over. 

The entire world seemed to stop as he hauled Dream up and over. He quickly handed the older a sword and turned to face the group gathered next to them. 

Tubbo was at the front, looking confused, along with Quackity and Sapnap.

“Run,” he told Dream, pulling out the crossbow Dream had given him long ago. “The portal’s behind us.”

There was a stunned silence as he looked back at the man they had been fighting. Dream looked surprised. 

“It’s not your time to die,” Tommy told him. 


	2. black and white

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dream’s POV!!! Yes, I added another chapter. I like good guy Dream, alright? There also might be some timeline mistakes so sorry about that.

Dream always did what he thought was right. At first, he played how he wanted to, starting wars and causing trouble just because he could. Everybody had infinite lives, after all. 

And maybe that was the start of his downfall. People got used to his chaotic behavior and even grew a little resentful. They always assumed he was out for the worst. And maybe at the start, he was, but as the storyline of this fucked world continued on, the line he purposefully used to cross got blurrier and darker. 

The black and white turned into grey and he got uncomfortable with how close to black he was edging in this new system. 

The disc war happened and he looked after himself and only himself. Everything was grey back then. If Sapnap and George noticed this, they said nothing.

(Looking back, they definitely noticed but kept their mouths shut. The feelings they refused to say would boil over eventually.) 

Then, L’Manberg declared independence. The revolution happened. He made a deal with Eret and dueled with Tommy. L’Manberg became its own country. 

That was around the time he stepped back and looked closely at his actions and at the lines he had crossed. Everything he had done. Was he really that bad of a ruler that his friends decided to leave? Was he a tyrant? Sure, at the start he was acting wildly, but as the war continued he got more serious, more focused. 

He was too focused on the war and its effects to notice Sapnap and George slowly drawing away from him.

Dream decided to take a break, to observe from the shadows instead of directing in the limelight. Be a silent player in the game. He didn’t want to hurt his friends any more than he already had. 

He watched silently as they started an election.

He watched silently as George joined with Quackity.

He watched silently as Schlatt joined the server.

He watched silently as Schlatt and Quackity combined their votes and won the election.

He watched silently as Wilbur and Tommy were exiled from the country they had created.

_It’s for the best_ , he reminded himself as guilt coiled in his stomach. _L’Manberg is its own country. You already ruined it enough._

But he can’t watch silently when he sees Tubbo flinch when Schlatt raises a hand too quickly or when Quackity becomes more violent, more unsure of himself. 

He can’t watch silently as he watches Wilbur slowly lose his mind in a dark ravine with Tommy helpless to do anything. 

When Wilbur asks - no, _demands_ \- the TNT to blow up Manberg, he hesitates. Wilbur doesn’t tell him everything and Dream can tell, but it’s not like Dream can ask for more information without losing Wilbur’s trust. 

(Not that Wilbur trusts him or frankly anyone.)

He watches helplessly as the festival comes and goes. Techno was a new addition to the server and Dream doesn’t regret inviting him as he does with Schlatt, but he does feel partially guilty. 

He had wanted so badly to march up and rescue Tubbo. He had wanted so badly to march up there and kill Schlatt. He had wanted so badly for somebody to do something. Because he couldn’t do anything. He couldn’t reveal he was on Pogtopia’s side. He couldn’t even open his mouth to protest. 

Silently screaming at George or Sapnap or hell, even Quackity, to stop this, he watches silently as Tubbo is blown up with fireworks and Techno creates a massacre. 

Instead, he does whatever he can to limit the damage of the inevitable war. He talks and talks and talks to everybody, he works with both sides, he tries to compromise with his friends, and he watches numbly as Tubbo is made president and then L’Manberg is blown up. He watches numbly as Philza has to kill his own son.

He watches numbly because no matter how hard he tried, people still died. Permanently. 

It’s then that he looks into the code and sees the three lives everybody has and what it could mean. Schlatt and Wilbur were dead because Dream wasn’t good enough, because he couldn’t save everybody. He stares at the code for a long while before coming to a decision.

No more death. No one was dying, not on his watch. 

So when he realizes that Tommy was a hazard to everybody else _and_ himself, he demands that Tommy is exiled. He makes threats, he acts violently, all because he knows that with how Tubbo acts, Tommy will keep acting dangerously and get himself killed.

He will not allow Tommy to get himself killed.

Dream doesn’t notice Sapnap and George boiling over until they’re screaming at him one night, blaming him for everything. Quackity blames him for everything wrong with the server. He can barely stutter out his ( _weak_ ) defense before they walk away, leaving him alone. 

He doesn’t know when he stepped into the black.

But he ignores the hurt, ignores the urge to cry, ignores the desire to curl up and sob until everything is better because he has to save everyone, even if they hate him for it. 

Tommy is exiled. Tommy hates him.

Tubbo exiles Tommy. Tubbo hates him.

Quackity, George, Sapnap, and Karl start El Rapids after blaming Eret for murder and raiding his castle. They hate him. 

Bad, Skeppy, and Sam are focused on the red egg. They hate him. 

Everybody hates him.

He thinks back to when they were all happy, to when they were all alive and wonders: _what happened_? Was this all his fault? What did he do to deserve this? 

He talks to Punz a lot. Punz is probably the only person who didn’t hate him. Punz understood. 

Dream watches Tommy try to kill himself and finally takes action, saving the boy from the lava lake below. Tommy cries into his shoulder and after that, Dream resolved to visit him more often, to make the hurt short.

Because he was never mad at Tommy. Never. He was scared for Tommy. 

“It’s not your time to die,” he tells Tommy. 

“It’s never my time,” Tommy replies. 

It gets worse. Phil is put under house arrest, Technoblade is almost executed. Punz helps him break his rival out, but Quackity sees him. 

He gets into another argument with George and Sapnap. They leave angrier. 

Dream breaks Phil out of house arrest and gets him safely to Techno’s house. He un-exiles Tommy. Nothing seems enough.

He saves people from the shadows, picks off wayward mobs, and makes sure nothing randomly explodes. Nobody notices. Which was fine, if they noticed they would probably hate him more. 

It all tips over the edge when he refers to Tubbo as “the next Schlatt” when they get into an argument about how Tubbo tried to execute Techno. 

The whole nation had suddenly fallen silent as Tubbo jerked back like he had been slapped. Dream ignored the guilt he felt and simply walked away. 

He just wants to protect everybody, was that too much to ask? Too many people were on their last life. Too many people were in danger. 

Too many people hated him.

He was gathering quartz to anonymously deposit in the community house after George offhandedly said he needed more when an arrow embeds itself into his shoulder. He jerked and turned around in surprise to see most of the SMP gathered below him, full netherite armor and swords ready. 

With a sinking feeling, he knew what was happening. 

Dream doesn’t fight back. They’re his friends (were they?) and he refused to kill them, to take a precious life away from them.

They all know he’s on his last. 

Everything hurt as he tried to cross a bridge to get to a portal. Maybe, just maybe, if he ran away, they wouldn’t chase him. He could continue to work from the shadows. They’d never know he was there, helping with everything he could.

Because that’s all he wanted to do. He just wanted to help.

He made a mistake and barely catches himself on the edge of the bridge in time. He was dangling by his fingertips, helpless and at the mercy of the people trying to kill him. 

Tommy stood over him, expression unreadable. 

This is ironic, isn’t it? He could’ve laughed.

His eyes watered as Quackity stepped forward. “Do it, Tommy,” Quackity said. “Kill him.”

A strangled noise is forced out of his throat. 

Tommy knelt down and put his hands over Dream’s wrists. He’s going to throw me over, Dream thinks. And wouldn’t that be funny? Killed by the kid he saved. 

“Tommy?” he pleaded “Tommy, _please_.”

He never got to apologize to George or Sapnap. He never got to help Bad and Skeppy with the mysterious egg. He never got to visit Phil and Techno at their house. 

“I’m sorry,” Tommy said, his grip tightening. Dream wondered if the guilt in his voice was real. 

Then Tommy helped him over. 

Dream could barely think over the shock that clouded his mind, staring up at Tommy in wonder. He had saved him? Why? Tommy gives Dream a sword. 

“Run,” Tommy told him, pulling out the crossbow Dream had given back at Pogtopia when Wilbur started going crazy. It was a peace gift. Mostly a “let’s hope Wilbur doesn’t kill us” gift. “The portal’s behind us.”

Tommy looked back at him with a smug grin, “it’s not your time to die.”


End file.
